Fiziev v Gaethje 1

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Just rewatched the first fight. Fiziev looked sharper, faster and more technically sound than Gaethje and I think he outscored him in the first two. Gaethje just has a hell of a chin, its them Homer Simpson genes.

But also, the elephant in the room. Gaethje cheating. He has a history of poking eyes so if we actually had a few referees who are worth two shits in this sport, he would have recieved a penalty.

How did you score the fight?
 
Gaethje was able to get back into the fight. But I remember one of the rounds was close. I had it 2 - 1 Gaethje but it was a close fight.
 
2023-rafael-fiziev-losing-lightweight-804110398.jpg

Brutality :)
 
Regardless that was one of my favorite matches of the year, can't wait to watch them go at it again.

Not really pulling for either but I think a Fiziev win would shake the division up a bit. LW needs that
 
Addressing the eyepoke Fiziev took less than 30 seconds to say he was alright and good to go so the excuses afterwards are kinda lame. tbh

Fiziev R1 faster and crisper looked like it was takng Gaethje a bit to get into the fight
Gaethje R2 although still close Justin landed the harder cleaner shots. imho
Gaethje R3 completely took over the fight in the last three minutes and picked Raffy apart.
 
Will be interesting because they are now fighting under completely different circumstances. Gaethje coming off that brutal KO loss/War and Raffy coming off the loss to Justin and the leg injury plus a long lay off and it's short noticed and Gaethje had a full camp Raffy didn't. So when you look at all those things looks to me like Raffy has the deck stacked against him so I am picking Gaethje in the rematch.
 
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I remember thinking that Fiziev looked way quicker to start the fight and was landing big shots. He looked more crisp, tighter punching. But Gathje's chin kept him in it and the tides slowly turned. I had it as a toss up as the 2nd round was tight.

I'm real interested to see how Fiziev approaches this fight. You'd think he would learn his lesson and come out with less output and try to piece up Gathje without gassing out. Then mayne hope for an opportunity or a late finish. Almost similar to what Max did to him, but obviously less output than Max, though Fiziev hits harder.

If Gathje really trys to push the pace then things could get interesting.

I could see this fight being like Stann/Wanderlei brawl or closer to a Ngannou/Black Beast fight where both guys are hesitant, particularly with Fiziev coming off an 18 month injury layoff/being on short notice and Gathje coming off a KO and being one more KO away from retiring (in his words, not mine).
 
I just watched the same fight, and thought that Gaethje took control in the 2nd round, did far more damage, and definitely won the 3rd round. That's leaving it in the hands of the judges, different people see different things.
 
I remember thinking that Fiziev looked way quicker to start the fight and was landing big shots. He looked more crisp, tighter punching. But Gathje's chin kept him in it and the tides slowly turned. I had it as a toss up as the 2nd round was tight.

I'm real interested to see how Fiziev approaches this fight. You'd think he would learn his lesson and come out with less output and try to piece up Gathje without gassing out. Then mayne hope for an opportunity or a late finish. Almost similar to what Max did to him, but obviously less output than Max, though Fiziev hits harder.
Yeah but Fiziev might have felt he had to fight like that to keep Justin off of him, like Rountree vs Poatan.
 
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Yeah but Fiziev might have felt he had to fight like that to keep Justin off of him, like Rountree vs Poatan.
Good point, but I think Fiziev is a way more technical striker than Rountree. Seemed like he thought he could get Gathje out of there early and I think he would've gotten most guys at least badly damaged if not finished.
 
I just can't help to think that if Fiziev sacrificed some muscle and cut down to 145 he'd be a monster down there. His structure isn't really suited for 155.
 
Fiziev hasnt had success since and is hopping in on short notice
 
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